An Electrifying Adventure
by Samtastic 3.0
Summary: On their way home from Tokyo, the Titans stop in Dakota to recruit Static & Gear. However, they arrive in the midst of an attack by the mysterious Mr. W, who has gathered all of Static's rogues in the ultimate revenge plot. With the Titans now involved, Mr. W's nefarious plans have only gotten bigger.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, people. If I could have a moment of your time, I would like to tell you a story. Well, it's actually a SERIES of stories, each starring some of the best heroes you've ever heard of. My stories are based off of some of the best cartoons & movies of the early to mid 2000's; these cartoons have received praise from critics and fans, as well as multiple awards. And now, I shall tell you a new batch of stories featuring these amazing characters.**

 **Let's stop for a moment and consider one of the greatest animated crossover universes ever: The DCAU. Starting with** _ **Batman: The Animated Series**_ **in 1992 and officially ending with** _ **Justice League Unlimited**_ **in 2006, this universe shared many shows starring popular DC heroes, including the Big 3: Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman. The shows were largely successful, with critics and fans giving them much praise.**

 **Well, I'm happy to tell you that the DCAU is where my stories will be taking place. But no, the Justice League will not be the main stars. No, the main spotlight will be shared by other heroes, some from DC, some from Disney, some from Nick, even some from Marvel.**

 **So sit back, and enjoy** **:)**

* * *

"Where is he? Where is he?"

To say things weren't going according to plan would be a MASSIVE understatement. All of their hard work was going straight down the toilet, as far as Brian Tochi (a young adult meta-human better known as Shiv) was concerned.

"What was with those two?" he angrily muttered to himself, as he kicked another door open, looking for his "friend" Francis Stone, a fire-powered meta-human better known as Hotstreak. The two of them were in the Meta-Breed, a group of Bang Babies dedicated to causing trouble. Their leader was Ivan Evans, a shadow-based meta-human better known as Ebon.

Over the past few weeks, the Meta-Breed had been growing in numbers…before it started dwindling down to hardly any. This Dr. Todd fellow from GenomaTech had managed to get his hands on some of the original Quantum Vapor (or "Bang Baby Gas" as most called it), and with the help of Static and Gear (ugh!) had managed to make a cure for all Bang Babies. Luckily, Ebon had led a raid into GenomaTech's lab, where they stole the last container of Bang Baby Juice. Sadly, in the process they had lost Talon, who had been cured and refused to come with the group now that she was "normal" again. This, of course, had weighed heavy on Ebon, as he had always loved Talon. **[1]**

Despite that minor complication, Ebon went ahead with his big plan: use the canister of BB Juice to create an even bigger Big Bang than the first one. He had planned to release the gas at the docks, where the original Big Bang had taken place. Ebon would then mold all the super-powered young minds into the new Meta-Breed, with him as the leader.

Shiv had been more than ok with that; he had never wanted to be in charge, anyway. He just wanted his powers (energy-based weapons from his hands) back. But then Hotstreak just HAD to go and steal the canister. Talon (or, Teresa, as she called herself) whom Ebon had recaptured, had called Ebon weak, and pointed out he was nothing without his powers. Hotstreak had (silently) agreed with that, so after the group had captured Static and Gear, he took off with the canister.

Now, the rest of the group had gotten off the ship to search the surrounding warehouses, but Shiv knew Hotstreak better than that; he was still on the ship, and Shiv was gonna find him and get his powers back.

As the young villain searched the room he had just entered, he failed to notice Teresa run past the door towards the exit of the ship. The room was mainly empty, except for one closet, which he yanked open; nothing but a vacuum, a mop, and a box of rolled-up trash bags.

"Dammit!" he muttered to himself. Why had Hottreak gone against Ebon? As far as Shiv knew, Hotstreak just liked to cause trouble. Yeah, he had been the leader of a gang before the Big Bang, but once he got his powers, he was mainly just a "have (destructive) fun, go with the flow" kind of guy. Shiv guessed it was his lust for power that was making him rebel.

Suddenly, what sounded like…fighting interrupted Shiv's thoughts. Suddenly, there was a mini-explosion, and the next thing Shiv knew, Quantum Vapor was filling the hall outside the room he was in. Luckily for him, it spread into the room as well, and all he needed was a good whiff.

Instantly, Shiv turned his hands into buzz saws. Though he was surprised to see that they were bigger than normal.

"Must be because I'm right in the gas this time," he muttered to himself. As he marveled at having his powers back, he suddenly had a thought, "What about the others? If this is the last of the Quantum Vapor, how are they gonna get some?"

It was then, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced into the closet, and noticed the vacuum and trash bags. The vacuum had a sucker on it, the kind for tight places, and Shiv knew he could use that. Quickly, he used his powers to rip the vacuum open. He quickly grabbed the box of trash bags, hooked one into the vacuum, plugged it into the outlet right by the door, and ran into the hall. He turned the vacuum on, and to his relief, it started sucking in the gas.

Shiv made sure that the bag wouldn't overflow and rip open, because somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he only had one shot at this.

As soon as the bag was full (like a big balloon), Shiv quickly and carefully unhooked it from the vacuum, made a rope with his powers, and used it to tie the bag shut. He now had a full trash bag of Bang Baby Gas. Right as he finished tying it, the gas was suddenly blown away; Shiv made sure to suck in one last time, getting another dose of the gas.

It was then that he heard Static and Gear from around the corner, so he did the smart thing and took off the other way.

He turned his hands into buzz saws and cut his way out of the ship, jumping onto the docks and heading for one of the warehouses. He figured his best bet would be to hide in the sewers for the night, while he planned his next move.

Suddenly, a loud roar caught his attention, and he turned back towards the ship…and gasped in shock! On the ship's deck was some sort of giant 2-headed monster, apparently made out of fire and…shadows?

"Oh, those idiots," Shiv muttered, instantly getting it: the monster was Ebon and Hotstreak, fused together because they were probably right by the canister when it went off.

Hiding inside the door of one of the warehouses, Shiv watched as Static and Gear, now super charged, battled the monster. At first, Darkflame (Shiv's name for the monster) appeared to be winning, but then Static surprised it by using his powers to throw a gas truck into its chest, causing it to explode and sink the ship.

As Shiv watched the super duo, he was suddenly grabbed from behind, with one arm slung around his chest, and the other arm's hand used to cover his mouth and prevent him from screaming. He kept a hold on his trash bag as he was dragged backwards into the warehouse towards an open manhole. He was pushed down the manhole, while holding his bag above him in an attempt to make sure it didn't tear open.

He landed in the sewer (gross) and looked to see Byron Turek **[2]** and Tamara Lawrence, two former Bang Babies known as Boom and…well, Tamara didn't really have a villain name; she just turned into a big monster. Suddenly, Heavy C, a Bang Baby formerly known as Slipstream, jumped down beside him. The trio of villains had each fought Static at different times (each was a "one time" villain, from what Shiv could remember) and when they started losing their powers, they had agreed to join the Meta-Breed under Ebon's leadership in exchange for their powers back.

"So," Shiv said, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "You guys see what I just saw?"

"Yeah," Tamara grumbled, "Static and Gear managed to take Ebon and Hotstreak out."

"And their powers seemed to have, like, doubled," Byron added.

"What do we do now, boss?" Heavy C asked Shiv, surprising him.

"Boss?" Shiv asked, sure he had heard wrong.

"Look, man," Byron spoke up, "You're one of the founding members of the Meta-Breed. And with Talon, Hotstreak, and Ebon out of the picture, that means you're in charge."

Shiv suddenly started sweating bullets; these guys were looking at _him_ to be their leader?

"Well," Shiv finally found his voice, "You'll be happy to know, this bag is full of Bang Baby Gas…"

"Alright!" Heavy C interrupted, "Let's get our powers back and go kick Static and Gear's butts!"

"Yeah!" Byron and Tamara both exclaimed eagerly.

"Hold it!" Shiv shouted, silencing the trio, "We can't just run out there and fight them. Even with our numbers advantage AND the fact that directly inhaling the gas will give us super-charged powers, we know Static will be able to beat us. And come on, with his brain doubled in size, how easy do you guys think it will be for Gear to turn our powers against each other? Look, I want to get revenge on Static and Gear as much as you guys do, but we need a PLAN!" Shiv was surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth; maybe the "re-gassing" had made him smarter?

"Well, at least give us somethin', man," Tamara pleaded, "I need my powers back!" The other two nodded in agreement.

Once again, Shiv was sweating nervously as all eyes were on him. He knew these guys wanted their powers back, and he didn't want them to turn against him like Hotstreak had to Ebon, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"A month!"

"What?" the trio questioned.

"What day is it?" Shiv choked out, trying to remain calm.

"January 12th," Tamara spoke up, "I remember it so easily because it's the anniversary of when I got together with that jerk boyfriend of mine."

"Well, then," Shiv began, ignoring the last part of what Tamara had said as he began explaining his idea, "Give me a month to make a plan. I mean, that'll give Static some time to think everything is ok, and then we can strike when he's least suspecting it. So, February 8th, we'll regroup, I'll give you guys your powers, and we'll set our plan into motion. Then, February 12th, two days before Valentine's Day, we'll strike." Shiv was silently praying that the others would accept his on-the-spot plan, because he knew they wouldn't last against Static and Gear if they just went in there blindly.

"Ok," Heavy C said after a minute, "You got a point that we need a plan, and what you just said sounds like a good a plan as we're gonna get." Tamara and Byron nodded in agreement.

"Ok," Shiv nodded, "Lay low for a while, maybe even get out of the city just to be safe. February 8th, we'll meet back here. I know Talon and Aquamaria are "done", but I'm sure most of Static's old foes would be more than happy to get revenge, so if you find any of them, invite them to join."

"Got it," the three nodded, and took off. Byron and Tamara headed in one direction of the sewer, Heavy C ran in the opposite direction, while Shiv climbed back up the ladder and exited the manhole. Luckily for him, he happened to spot Static and Gear through one of the warehouse's windows; they were heading for the city, so Shiv knew he would be fine…for the night.

After taking a breather, Shiv went to the power box and cut the power for the warehouse he was in. After making sure his bag was in a safe location, he started smashing boxes. Shortly after starting, he found what he was looking for: bubble wrap. He grabbed as much as he could, went to the box he had selected for his bag, and filled it with bubble wrap. He then carefully placed his balloon-bag into the box, laid another roll of bubble wrap on top of it, and put the lid back on the box. He then placed the box on a flat-cart and rolled it out of the warehouse.

He knew he couldn't stay there for too long because chances were Static and Gear had already called the police about the sinking ship and Bang Babies still running around the docks, so he needed to get as far away from there as possible.

After a few minutes, he was away from the docks, in the downtown/slum area of the city. He stopped for a minute to rest on a bench. He needed to find a place to crash for the night, where he could also maybe lay low for a few days.

RING-RING, RING-RING, RING-RING

Shiv's head instantly shot up and began looking around for wherever that ringing sound was coming from. He did NOT need anyone around to see him and report him. But to his surprise, he saw no one; in fact, the ringing seemed to be coming from a…payphone?

"What the?" he muttered, confused. The payphone was obviously ringing, but Shiv was certain payphones couldn't accept incoming calls.

The payphone kept ringing, so against his better judgment, Shiv walked over to it, picked up the receiver, and asked, "Hello?"

"Hello, Shiv," the voice on the other end said, whoever it was having a "standard" voice disguiser/modulator type voice: deeply robotic sounding.

"Um…" Shiv was definitely caught off guard by the fact that whoever was calling knew his name…and that he just happened to be by this payphone.

"Don't be nervous, my dear boy. I'm not a cop or a hero or anything like that. I'm a friend, a friend with an offer I'm certain you don't want to refuse."

"O…ok," Shiv managed to find his voice, "What…what kind of offer?"

"Well, I know what's in the box, for starters," the voice answered, surprising Shiv, "And I know how you can quite literally make the most of it."

"Ok," Shiv answered again, not sure what else to say.

"And I think that one month is the perfect amount of time for you to lay low before attacking Static," the voice continued.

"Are…are you my future self?" Shiv asked, not knowing any other way that this person could know about his plan or the Bang Baby Gas.

The voice chuckled, "No, no I'm not. And I'm not any of the others, if that's your next question." The voice paused for a moment before continuing, "Truthfully, who I am is unimportant for the time being. Let's just say I'm an…old friend of Static's, and I would rather he not know of my involvement in your little plan."

"Um…being honest," Shiv muttered, slightly embarrassed, "I don't really have a plan."

"Of course you do," the voice argued, "And I'm going to tell you what it is."

"You are?" Shiv asked, still not getting it.

"Ok," the voice sighed, "Let me make this as clear as I can make it: I'm going get revenge on Static, and I've got the perfect plan on how to do it. But I don't want him to know of my involvement until it's too late for him to do anything about it, so you're going to be my…puppet, so to say."

"Oh," Shiv said, finally getting it, "So…what's the plan?"

"Not now," the voice told him, "I'm going to give you directions to a place where you can lay low for a while, and I'll contact you in 24 hours to begin going over details of "your" plan. Now, what time is it?"

Shiv happened to be right by a pawn shop, so he turned his hand into a set of binoculars and looked inside the window, where he was able to see the clock. "10:30," he told the mysterious voice.

"Very well," the voice said, "At exactly 10:30 tomorrow, I'll call with the first step of the plan to begin our ultimate revenge on Static."

"Thanks," Shiv said, feeling giddy at the idea of finally getting rid of the goody two-shoes hero, "By the way, even though you have nothing to do with this plan whatsoever…what do I call you?"

"For now, you may refer to me as Mr. W," the voice told him, "Now, listen closely, because I will only tell you the directions to your new hideout once."

"Got it," Shiv said, nodding even though Mr. W couldn't see him.

"Okay, first, continue up the street you are currently on…"

* * *

Dr. Todd sighed as he hung up the phone. His assistant, Andrew, wouldn't be coming back to work for a few days; understandable, since he had almost had his head cut off by a psychotic Bang Baby earlier. But still, it meant he would have to continue his work alone. And after the day's events, he wasn't sure if he would be able to.

In November, after the mayoral elections evicted Thomashina Jefferson from the office (because while no proof was ever found, many were sure she was covering up Alva Industries' involvement in the Big Bang), the new mayor, Michael Davis **[3]** , had ordered GenomaTech to start using the research they had been collecting over the past few months to cure the Bang Baby population. After a brief "team up" with Static and Gear, the Bang Baby cure was ready.

But then, earlier today, the Meta-Breed had broken into the lab and stolen the last canister of Quantum Vapor that GT had, so they were at a set back. At least Dr. Todd still had the formula for the cure, so they wouldn't be halted for more than a couple of days.

"I'll phone the mayor tomorrow and explain the situation," he muttered to himself, as he looked up at the clock. 11:00. He needed to get home and get to bed, as he knew he would have to wake up early the next day. Plus, he knew his daughter would be up all night worrying about him.

As he began packing up his things to take home, Dr. Todd was unaware of a dark figure sneaking into the lab's basement. After about a minute of packing, the lights in the lab suddenly went out.

"Weird," Dr. Todd muttered, looking up towards the light's; he then looked towards his computer, which was still on. If it wasn't a power failure, then that meant…

"Hello, Dr. Todd," a slightly robotic sounding voice stated from behind him, as the few beakers still on the work table were suddenly shattered, their contents spilling out all over the desk. Dr. Todd turned around away from the desk towards the mysterious voice.

There, right next to the light switch, was a figure dressed in all black. Dr. Todd could tell that the mysterious figure was wearing some "mock armor" under their clothing, consisting of a bullet proof vest, knee, shoulder, and elbow pads, and quite possibly a football helmet underneath their ski mask. This person purely looked like they were TRYING to look scary, which they weren't. Of course, shattering the beakers from the other side of the room meant they probably had a gun on them, but Dr. Todd was sure he could calm this person down enough to defuse the situation.

"Look," he began, "I don't want any trouble." As he was talking, he slowly reached for his wallet, "There's a safe in the backroom, and all the I've got on me is in here." At this, he tossed his wallet towards the figure.

"You think I want money?" the figure asked, kicking the wallet to the side.

"I don't see why else you would be here other than to rob the place," Dr. Todd lied; he knew that if this person wasn't a robber, then they were probably a disgruntled former Bang Baby wanting revenge for the loss of their powers.

"Yes you do," the figure chuckled, as they slowly made their way towards Dr. Todd, "At least, you know HALF the reason."

"Half the reason?" Dr. Todd questioned, confused, as he backed away from the slowly advancing figure.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the figure started, "I am Mr. W, and I have big plans going down soon. I'm sorry to inform you that your part in my plans has been completed, therefore I no longer have any use of you."

"I would never work for a madman," Dr. Todd argued, as he suddenly backed into the wall, stopping him in his tracks.

Mr. W chuckled as he walked right up to Dr. Todd and placed his hands on the man's shoulders (to stop him from running), "Really? Spraying a chemical to make Bang Babies, both heroes AND villains, lose their powers, so while the heroes are happy to live normal lives, the villains are desperate enough to follow **anyone** who will give them their powers back. So after getting their powers back, they attack the now defenseless city under their new leader, all because they were desperate enough to do so? Dr. Todd, you may-as-well be my second in command."

Dr. Todd's eyes widened as he processed everything Mr. W had just said. Then, he calmed down as a new thought occurred to him, "How are you gonna give the villains their powers back?" He was actually feeling confident as he smirked at Mr. W, who wasn't the least-bit fazed.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Mr. W told him…as he flung the scientist across the room, where he banged his head against the wall, dazing him.

Mr. W then walked over to Dr. Todd's computer, where he began typing something. Struggling, Dr. Todd managed to stand up, and, having no plan at the moment, looked around and spotted the fire alarm a few feet away from him on the wall. He managed to ignore the splitting pain in his head as he reached over and pulled down the handle…only to have nothing happen.

"I snuck into the basement and cut the power for both the fire alarms and the burglar alarms," Mr. W said, not even turning around, "I also busted that one rusty pipe. You really should have gotten that replaced at least a month ago."

Dr. Todd chided himself for not listening to Andrew when he brought up the rusty pipe earlier in the week. Now the basement was likely flooded, and as that was where he kept his filing cabinets…

"You're getting rid of the cure," Dr. Todd realized, as he watched Mr. W continue to type away on the computer. He knew the physical files in the basement were ruined, and now Mr. W was trying to get rid of the cure on the computer. But Dr. Todd once again felt slight relief upon realizing two things:

1: Mr. W would never be able to get past the computer's firewall to delete the cure

2: in the safe in the backroom, there was a hidden compartment that had a flash drive containing backups on the Bang Baby research

"Dr. Todd!" Mr. W suddenly exclaimed, sounding slightly appalled, "I am shocked that such a fine member of the community would look at…at…such a website. And at your place of business, no less." Mr. W shook his head as he stepped away from the computer. Even across the room, Dr. Todd could see that the website Mr. W had logged into was…

"A porn website?" Dr. Todd asked, slightly confused.

"And," Mr. W went on, ignoring Dr. Todd, "Downloading "special deals" from this site. How disgraceful." At that, Mr. W used the mouse to click on a button that said "Download for X-tra Fun" as he pulled a flash drive out of his pocket. He held up the flash drive so Dr. Todd could see it. Even though it was dark, Dr. Todd could barely make out a…skull on it?

"I mean," Mr. W continued as he placed the flash drive into the computer, "Don't you know that these kinds of sites come with all sorts of…" he paused for a moment, as Dr. Todd noticed his computer acting up.

 _"Hard drive wiped,"_ a computerized voice stated.

"Viruses?" Mr. W finished with, even though Dr. Todd couldn't see it, a wide smile on his face as he pulled the flash drive out of the computer and back into his pocket.

"So, do you get the picture now?" Mr. W asked, "You were feeling stressed after all that's happened in the past couple of days, so you logged onto the website to "calm yourself". But, as you can see, said website ruined your computer by deleting everything on your hard drive with a virus. Then, by random coincidence, that rusty pipe in the basement burst, and just happened to spray the fuse box, knocking out the power. Of course, you didn't know about the pipe, you just knew that the fuse box probably needed to be checked. So you instantly headed for the basement, without giving your eyes time to adjust to the darkness so you could grab a flashlight. You bumped into your work table and knocked over the beakers, which spilled their contents out. Then, your cigar dropped out of your mouth onto the liquid, which happened to be highly flammable, thusly starting a fire which burned down the lab. And I'm sorry to say, Dr. Todd, you didn't make it."

His story done, Mr. W pulled out a pack of Cuban cigars and a lighter. He lit one of the cigars up, and tossed it onto the work table; and it wasn't just a guess, the chemicals were in fact VERY flammable. The whole desk was up in flames in seconds.

Dr. Todd (having been able to process everything Mr. W said very quickly) turned and headed for the backdoor of his lab, hoping he could make it outside and flag down some late-night driver.

"HEELLLP!" he screamed, as he made his way across the lab. But it was all for naught, as Mr. W easily tackled him to the ground.

"Ya know the best part?" Mr. W whispered into the scientist's ear as he placed the cigars into Dr. Todd's lab coat pocket, "Everyone will know you were murdered, but no one will have enough evidence to conduct any investigation for more than a couple days, so they'll have to label your death an accident. Once the Meta-Breed has FULL control of Dakota City, everyone will find out the truth that you were murdered, but by then it will be too late. Oh, and your wife ran out on you when the kid was still in diapers, right? Where, oh where, will your poor daughter go now that she'll have no daddy?"

At that, Mr. W jumped back up and flung Dr. Todd right towards his flaming work table, as the poor man screamed in terror…

* * *

Unfortunately, Mr. W was right: the police were certain Dr. Todd's death was a murder, but had absolutely no evidence to go on. Gear tried to use the GenomaTech's satellites to retrieve any data (though he and Static agreed that the cure wasn't going to be recovered), but it was all for naught. All the data could recover was a porn website that had been the last website that Dr. Todd had been on, and it had apparently wiped the computer's hard drive with a deadly virus. Of course, his superiors were horrified of the gross misuse of their equipment, especially by one of their most brilliant minds.

Tina Todd was greatly distraught over the death of her father. And Mr. W had been right: Tina's mother had run out on them when Tina was only a few months old, and they (obviously) hadn't kept in contact with anyone on her side of the family. And, from what Tina had been told, her father's parents had died shortly after he had graduated college, and he himself was an only child, so she was now an orphan, no family to go to.

Despite Tina's pleas, after only 3 days, Chief Barnsdale had no choice but to call off the investigation. Static and Gear, however, both agreed to keep investigating, but Barnsdale ordered them to keep it to themselves and only come to the police once they had concrete evidence.

All the while, Static and Gear were unaware that they were being watched. Watched by none other than the mysterious Mr. W, who was more than happy to have them investigate Dr. Todd's death. After all, it would keep them distracted and stop them from getting too close to the truth.

And by the time they learned the truth, it would be too late…

* * *

 **Let me explain my timeline:**

 **In the very first episode, Virgil and Frieda talk about homecoming, implying it's around the beginning of the school year. I figured it's probably freshman year.**

 **Then, in season 3's "Flashback", it's been 2 years since the Big Bang. So, I figure Season 4 could take place up until Christmas, with "Kidnapped" (the second-to-last episode) taking place in mid-December. And finally, "Power Outage" takes place a month later, in mid-January.**

 **And, because the shows/movies I wish to use were mainly big around mid-2000s, that's when I'm placing my stories. As my profile states I have slight OCD, I try to be accurate, yet many of the shows I plan on using have set dates. So these stories will take place in the mid-2000s, with no "set year". Next chapter, the CURRENT time of this story will be February, the week before Valentine's Day. And yes, the dates are accurate.**

 **So, who is Mr. W? How will the Teen Titans fit into this? Why did I end the chapter with such a cliché cliffhanger? Why am I asking all these cheesy questions?**

 **You'll just have to read to find out.**

 **[1] While not officially stated, many of Ebon's actions over the course of the series have suggested that he has romantic feelings for Talon. For instance, in their first appearance, Ebon calls Talon his "little turtle dove".**

 **[2] Byron and his sister Miranda weren't given last names, so I decided to use Miranda's voice actor, Gavin Turek, as their last name. In fact, for many Bang Babies with no real names given, I will just use their actor's name for them.**

 **[3] While not named in the show, the mayor bears a resemblance to the mayor of the comics, so I used that name for her. And the new mayor is simply named after the co-creator of** _ **Static Shock**_ **.**

 **R &R**


	2. Chapter 2

**NEW CHAPTER!**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

 _3 weeks later…February 7th_

 **VIRGIL POV**

Man, I cannot believe how much things have changed for me in these past few weeks. With all my former enemies out of commission, life has been so easy. I've had more time to spend with my friends, on my school work, and on sleep. I actually can't thank Dr. Todd enough…

Oh right. Because of the lack of Bang Baby activity (as well as the lack of normal crime) pretty much all of my time as Static has been investigating Dr. Todd's murder. Me and Gear are both positive that he was murdered, but we don't have any evidence. That's why the police had to shut down their investigation.

Luckily for us, Chief Barnsdale agreed that there was nothing wrong with Gear and me doing our own investigation. But he told us we couldn't come to the police until we've got actual evidence, which, um…we don't.

Logic points to a disgruntled former Bang Baby being responsible for Dr. Todd's murder, obviously out of revenge for having their powers taken away. We've been searching for evidence as much as we can, but no luck so far. We can't give up, though; we promised his daughter, Tina, that we would find her father's killer (we didn't have to say anything to her, she just reached the same conclusion as we did: that her father was murdered as an act of revenge).

I feel bad for her, because she told us that her mom ran out on them when she was a baby, so she has no one. At least my dad managed to get her a room at the Freeman Community Center, and she's still able to come to school and be on the swim team. Plus, another good note is she's given us some valuable evidence: her father never smoked, meaning the cigars used to start the fire weren't his, and he was not the type of person who would look at "adult websites" like the one that wiped his computer's hard drive. That's not enough evidence to get the police involved, but it's enough to keep us searching.

But the list of suspects is pretty long. I mean, all our old enemies are locked up, so we're not sure if any of them had anything to do with it. A couple of them, like Talon and Aquamaria, are doing community service because they actually want to reform and make up for what they did. But most of them are locked up in the old Meta-human Ward at the police precinct. Off the top of my head, the only ones I know FOR SURE that are still on the loose are Ebon, Hotstreak (Gear made a mini-sub camera to search the docks where they disappeared, because we're sure the two of them are still out there), Shiv, Slipstream, Boom, Monster, and a couple other, minor, onetime foes of mine. We don't know how many were at the docks when Ebon released his canister of Quantum Vapor and got their powers back, but we do know we'll be ready when they finally attack.

And man, Gear and I have gotten so much better with our powers since we were re-infected with the BB Gas. I'm practically as strong as a lightning storm, and I know for a fact the saying will one day be "He's as smart as Gear!" (sorry Einstein). We practice with our powers as much as we can.

So, today was just a normal Monday…well, as normal as you can get with all the girls screaming about the upcoming Valentine's Day Dance. It's gonna be this Saturday, the 12th. Oh, and it's a girls-ask-boys dance, so ya know that's gonna be interesting.

Being honest, I hope my friend Daisy will ask me. I like like her, and I know she like likes me, but we're both too nervous to do anything about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I sound like a 4th grader, with "like like", and the fact that I'm too nervous to become more than friends with her even though I'm a super hero. But hey, this could be the year. Anyway, school was okay. Daisy didn't ask me out yet, but I think she was trying to :)

Afterwards, Richie had to run a few errands for his mom while his dad's out of town on business, so I did afternoon patrol by myself.

First I stopped by my old partner Rubberband Man's apartment. Adam Evens was, at first, an enemy of mine, until he fell in love with my sister (gag) and reformed. He didn't keep his identity secret, and all that publicity really helped him become big in the music industry (plus his music talent ain't half bad, either). Funny thing to add is that I've never told Adam my secret identity, despite the fact that we're good friends as both supers and normal people.

Anyway, I flew up to his penthouse and tapped on the window. He came over and let me inside (I just realized how much that made me sound like a cat).

"How's it going, Static?" he asked, as he sat down at his keyboard.

"Pretty good. Just thought I'd check up and see how you've been doing?"

"Things have been going kind of slow, but for the most part they're ok," he told me, shrugging, "One of the good things about losing my powers is that now I can spend more time on my music. And I've got more time to spend with my girl."

"Sarah, right?" I don't know why I didn't just tell him. Oh wait, yeah I do: he and Sharon tell each other EVERYHING! So if I told him my identity, how long before Sharon found out? It was hard enough to trick her the last time she almost found out about my powers.

"Sharon," he corrected me, "We've been together for over a year now, and I just feel like she's the one." He had a love struck tone in his voice, which I mentally rolled my eyes at.

"Got any special plans for Valentine's Day?" I asked nonchalantly.

"I'm gonna write her a song and take her out for a romantic dinner," he said, "And I know she'll love it…as soon as I write it."

"You'll get it, man," I told him "Anyway, just thought I'd check up. I gotta get going." At this, I turned to leave, but he stopped me.

"Wait!" he called out, and I turned to look at him as he said, with a bit of an uncomfortable look on his face, "Have you…found my brother?"

That still came as a shock every time I heard it, knowing my partner and my arch foe were brothers.

Of course, shortly after the incident at the docks, Gear and me had visited Adam and told him about what had happened. Despite Ebon being evil, I knew Adam still cared for his brother. I could understand and respect that.

"No, man. We're still looking. The police recovered all they could from the ship, but there was no sign of your brother or Hotstreak. Gear's sub is still looking, so if they're there, we'll find them."

"Thanks for looking," he told me with an appreciative smile, "I know it's weird, me still caring about him after everything he's done to the city…"

"Dude, he's family," I stopped him, "Unless they snap and try to literally kill you, you'll always love your family. Heck despite the fact that she drives me nuts, I still love my sister." Instantly I realized what I had said, and my eyes went wide.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Adam said, raising his eyebrow at me curiously.

"Uh…" I struggled to find a way out of this one, "There's…a lot you don't know about me, man." I opened the window and got my Static Saucer ready, before turning back to Adam, "I promise that the moment we find your brother, you'll be the first to know."

Before he could say anything else, I hopped out the window and took off.

* * *

 _Beast Boy wandered around the dark town. He couldn't understand why Jump City was, well…deserted? There was no one around, and it was completely dark. Not like nighttime, more like a storm was brewing. A bad storm._

 _For reasons unknown, even to himself, Beast Boy found himself drawn to Murakami High School, a private boarding school in the middle of downtown Jump City. Before, Beast Boy had never even thought about this school, heck, not even this building crossed his mind…until he found Terra._

 _Terra was the first girl he had ever loved (his teammates Raven and Starfire were more like sisters to him). She, like him, was a meta-human, specifically with powers over rock and earth. At first, she had had little to no control over these powers, and she ran off before the Titans could help her._

 _She ran to Slade, the Titans' archenemy. He helped her master her powers, in exchange for her unwavering loyalty. He first assignment was to infiltrate the Titans and learn their weaknesses for Slade. Then, she would help him destroy them._

 _Ultimately, she turned against Slade and helped her former friends defeat him, but was turned to stone in the process. Beast Boy had been heartbroken ever since._

 _The young shape shifter pushed the doors of the high school open, finding the place empty, just like the rest of the town._

 _It was here he encountered Terra again. After a 4-month-long globe-trotting adventure where Beast Boy had defeated HIS personal foes, the Brotherhood of Evil, the gang had finally returned home. It was only the first day back when Beast Boy encountered Terra, now a simple high school girl who apparently had no memory of her powers or her time with the Titans. After much persisting, Beast Boy had finally agreed to leave Terra alone, for each of them to face their separate futures._

 _"Things change Beast Boy. The girl you want me to be is just a memory…"_

 _Beast Boy jerked his head towards that voice. There, standing under a single light in the otherwise completely dark hallway, was Terra. She looked sad, just like the last time he had seen her._

 _"Terra!" he called out to her. But before he could even take another step forward, she began drifting away. Her legs weren't moving; it was like she was being carried away by some force, ever so slowly._

 _Beast Boy couldn't believe it. He tried to follow her, but suddenly found himself stopped by them…Amber and Dionne, Terra's new friends who disrespected him when he had first tried to talk to her. They weren't alone; there was a sea of students blocking his way, though he could still see Terra over their heads._

 _"Excuse me," he tried pushing his way past them, only to stop once he saw their eyes. They were all looking right at him, but their eyes were dead, practically black._

 _"Get lost, Brat Boy!" they all spoke in unison, as Beast Boy struggled to get past them. Suddenly, the "sea of students" became an actual sea, which swallowed Beast Boy up. He struggled to swim to the surface, as he could still see Terra drifting away from him up above._

 _Struggling as hard as he could, Beast Boy finally remembered that he could turn into animals, so he instantly turned into a whale and crashed to the top of the sea, where he turned into a seagull before landing on the nearby ground (he paid no attention to the fact that the high school and, by default, the town were gone). However, instead of seeing Terra drifting away, he saw something much worse…_

 _"Slade was right. You don't have any friends."_

 _It was the night Beast Boy had discovered Terra's treachery. In his broken-hearted moment, he rejected her pleas for friendship and forgiveness, which ultimately drove her completely to Slade._

 _"Dude, stop! Just forgive her!" he yelled at his past self. But to no avail, as Slade and the other Beast Boy slowly disappeared, leaving only Terra, who held her head down and started crying._

 _"Terra, I'm so sorry," Beast Boy choked out, as he reached out to her. But the second his hand got near her, she whipped her head up, and Beast Boy was appalled to see that her face was now melted off, revealing a skeleton, which glared at the green changeling._

 _"It's your fault!" she snarled at him, "Why didn't you forgive me? You could have saved me from Slade's influence!"_

 _"Terra…" Beast Boy choked out, but was cut off._

 _"Don't! I don't want to hear it! Just leave me alone! I'm happy now, because I don't have to remember you!"_

 _The last words repeatedly rang inside Beast Boy's head. "…I don't have to remember you! …don't have to remember you! …don't have to remember you!"_

 _Beast Boy looked at Terra, who was still glaring at him through her empty, skeleton eye-sockets. Beast Boy wanted to move…he NEEDED to get away from that harsh, accusing glare. But no matter how hard he tried, he found himself unable to move, unable to turn his head away, unable to even close his eyes._

 _"I hate you, Beast Boy!" Terra snarled, "Remember that! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"_

* * *

Beast Boy shot up, breathing and sweating heavily. He looked around the room he was in, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light. He then remembered he was in Tokyo, Japan.

Right, right. About 2 weeks after the Terra incident, the Titans had been called to Tokyo (if you can say that being attacked by a psycho warning you to stay away as "called") to investigate a criminal known as Brushogun who apparently had the city under his control.

Long story short: Brushogun was an innocent pawn being used by the corrupt Chief of Police Daizo to make himself look like a hero.

In gratitude for saving the city from Daizo, the Titans were given a Suite in one of Tokyo's most popular hotels, free of charge. And, after deciding that the team could use a vacation, Robin called in some of the other Titans to watch Jump City for the couple of weeks they would be gone.

The Suite had two large bedrooms with 2 beds each. Raven and Starfire took one room, and the guys took the other. Beast Boy let Robin and Cyborg have the beds, since he could just transform into a dog and sleep on the couch.

That's where he currently was; in his shocked awakening, he had transformed back into a human. Luckily he hadn't screamed and woken his friends up.

Looking at the alarm clock on the dresser in between the two beds, Beast Boy noticed it was only 8:27. Looking out the window, he saw the sun just starting to rise. Deciding it would be pointless trying to get back to sleep, he went over to the window, opened it, and turned into a fly.

He flew up to the roof, where he morphed back into a human. He leaned on the stone-wall edge of the roof, looking out at the city below him, as his mind drifted back to a year ago…

It had been right after Christmas when the Titans had met Terra. Then, after she left in a fit of confusion, she came back about a month later. Then, she was with the team almost another month before she revealed her treachery before leaving. Then, not 2 weeks later was when she attacked the team to put Slade's big plan into action.

During those 2 weeks, Beast Boy was depressed. He only managed to get up and around because Starfire refused to see one of her closest friends in such a sad state. She made him go through extra training sessions with Robin, video game tournaments with Cyborg, and even made Raven help him meditate. After about a week, Beast Boy was slowly but surely back on the road to recovery.

Then Terra attacked, he finally promised the others and himself to bring her down, and…she redeemed herself. But why did she have to sacrifice herself in the process?

Anyway, after that, Beast Boy was ok for a while. Even after Slade mysteriously came back, he was fine. When he faced the Brotherhood of Evil, he was fine. When he came back home, he…wasn't.

After he agreed to leave "Terra" alone (he was sure the schoolgirl was her, but she hadn't told him her new name), he had started having the nightmares. At first, they were small and he was able to ignore and/or forget them. But then, they started coming in heavy. He knew the stress of losing Terra was getting to him, especially now that she was so close, but still so far.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Beast Boy turned around to see Raven a few feet behind him, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Her hood was down, and her hair had a "bed-head" type look to it.

"It's about time to get up," Beast Boy simply responded, turning back to watch over the edge.

Raven came and stood next to him, straightening her hair down; "Not for you. You usually sleep until noon. Sometimes later."

"Well…" Beast Boy really didn't want to talk about his problems with Raven; sure, over their time of the Titans together, they had become closer as friends, but Beast Boy knew Raven wasn't all about opening up and expressing her feelings, or listening to others express their feelings. "We're going home today, and the time zone is almost the exact opposite, so we'll need to try to get back on track with our sleeping schedules. If I wake up early today, I can get to sleep easier tonight."

"Uh huh," Raven said in a deadpan tone, clearly not believing Beast Boy's excuse. Though she hated to do it, she had been reading Beast Boy's mind off and on ever since he told the others that he had found Terra again. She knew he was distressed, and was worried that he could easily fall into depression again. Luckily Starfire had been able to stop it from getting too bad after Terra's betrayal.

Even though Raven didn't show it most of the time, she genuinely cared for her friends, and really did hate seeing them upset. Deep down, she really did consider Starfire her best friend, she saw the guys like brothers, and yes, she even missed Terra…though if you ever asked her this, she would deny it and threaten to trap you in the back of her mind, a place no sane person would ever willingly wish to go. Anyway, she deeply cared for Beast Boy like a brother, and hated the fact that he was obviously having nightmares over Terra.

"Look," she began, somewhat begrudgingly, "I know you're upset over the whole Terra thing, but…" At this, she began patting her green friend on the back, "It's not healthy to keep this stuff bottled up. Believe me, I know it first hand."

Beast Boy shrugged Raven's hand away from him and walked a few steps away; "I'm fine, Raven, really. I appreciate your concern, but it's not needed. I accept the fact that Terra doesn't remember me, and I'm gonna respect her wishes and leave her alone. She can live her own life, watching us Titans from the crowd as a fan, and nothing more. That's why I tried to flirt with that pretty (secretly cat-ink) girl when we first got here: I wanted to move on."

Raven sighed in irritation; she knew Beast Boy wasn't fine, and was annoyed that he was trying to keep his problems bottled up. After they had finally beaten that monster thing, Raven had personally gone to Terra's "grave", and upon realizing Terra's statue was in fact gone, she used her magic to track her (using the "residue" that had been left behind). She traced it to Murakami school, and realized the girl was in fact Terra. Though the group missed Terra and wanted her back, Raven didn't read the girl's mind. So, did Terra truly not remember her former life, or was she just pretending to not remember out of guilt?

"Look, I'll just say this," Raven said, opening a small portal to take her back to her room, "I'm not all for cheesy clichés, but if you and Terra are meant to be together, then she'll come to you." At that, Raven started to enter the portal.

"Wait," Beast Boy looked at her, one foot in the portal as she looked back at him, "Why were you on the roof just now?" Beast Boy really didn't think Raven had come up to get him; plus, he had woken up rather early, so he figured she would still be asleep like the others.

"I woke up early to and decided to do a little meditating," Raven said, before she entered and closed the portal behind her, pulling her hood up as she did so.

It wasn't a TOTAL lie; she had woken up a few minutes prior, and was debating trying to get back to sleep or maybe do a little meditating…when she sensed one of her friends in trouble! It was only mental, however; she had sensed Beast Boy's nightmare and, against her better judgment, followed him up to the roof.

Beast Boy turned back to the edge and continued looking out over the city; he knew Raven was right, that he needed to confront his feelings about Terra. He loved her, and knew that he couldn't live without her. If he had to wait for her to realize that, he could do it. But what was troubling him was the thought that deep down, Terra didn't want to realize that. What if she truly believed her former friends would never forgive her, and would never come back? Beast Boy knew he couldn't live with that. Nope, no way could he live with that.

* * *

Static continued to fly over the city, as a few people spotted him and waved at him; he waved back, smiling at his fans. He was happy that they so eagerly accepted him as their hero, especially considering he became a hero before the National Super Ban was officially lifted. **[1]**

After a few more minutes of flying, Static's journey brought him to his father's place of business, the Freeman Community Center. It was here that his Pops helped kids in need of a second chance, so they didn't wind up joining any gangs and throwing away their futures.

He decided to stop by for a visit. He knew a lot of kids loved seeing their favorite heroes any chance they could, and he knew a few of Dakota's residents considered HIM their favorite hero. He flew over the court yard, and smiled at seeing a couple of familiar faces.

"Well, if it isn't two of my favorite girls," he said as he flew to the two girls who appeared to be middle-school age: Maureen Connor and Miranda Turek, formerly known as Permafrost and Mirage.

Maureen had had a rough life, with her father and older brother abandoning her and her mother when she was only a couple years old. Then, her mom started seeing a really great guy…with a bad past. Things were okay until her mom had fallen ill; then her stepfather's past came running back. He eventually abandoned them on Christmas Eve, the same night Maureen's mother died of her illness. So, a few years later, the now-homeless Maureen was wandering by the docks on the very night the Big Bang happened. She slowly developed ice powers, which ultimately manifested a year-and-a-half later around Christmas. Luckily, Static had been able to get through to her and managed to help her get her powers under control.

As for Miranda, she and her older brother Byron had had a pretty decent life…until their parents died in a car accident. They were forced to live with their poor grandmother in her run-down apartment. All was lost…until they stepped in a puddle of Bang Baby Juice a couple days after the Big Bang. They slowly developed powers, Maureen able to turn images into reality, and Byron having a super boom box in his chest. Byron tried to force his sister into committing crimes with their powers, saying that they were owed something after they lost everything. Thankfully, Static had helped Miranda see that her brother was sick and needed help.

Soon after Miranda turned herself in, her grandmother passed away, so she came to the FCC. When Maureen came a couple months later, Static hinted to "Mr. Hawkins" that he should introduce the two of them. Now, they were roommates and the best of friends.

"Hey, Static," they both chirped happily. They were sitting at one of the outdoor tables working on their homework.

"What's up?" Maureen asked, as she fiddled with her calculator.

"Mot much," Static replied, hovering a few feet above the two, "Just on my patrol, thought I'd stop by and see how things are going."

"Pretty good," Maureen answered, shrugging as she wrote down a few things, "Kinda boring, seeing as not much has happened lately."

"Yeah," Miranda said, reading something in her text book, "Since there are no more super villains, there hasn't been any real excitement lately. Kinda sad that we feel the need to see villains attacking the city in order to not be bored."

"Eh," Static shrugged, "It's what you're used to, whether or not it's a good thing."

"True," Miranda said, nodding, before she became slightly uncomfortable, "So…any news on my brother?"

Like Adam, Miranda still cared for her villainous sibling, and Static could accept that.

"Sorry," Static said, shaking his head as he remembered Byron had been at the docks the night Ebon had released the gas, "No sign of him yet."

"Ok," Miranda said, sighing, "Well, we got a bit to do, so…"

"Got it," Static said, as he bid the girls goodbye and headed inside.

As he entered the FCC, Static sighed to himself. It wasn't really fair for either of them to be here, but they didn't have any other choice. Miranda had no family, and the only family Maureen knew about was her a-hole step father; last Static had heard, the dirt bag was on the run, wanted on over a dozen small crimes (possession, theft, etc).

"Static!"

The teen super's thoughts were interrupted as he turned his head to see who had called him. He was rather surprised to see none other than Edwin Alva Jr.

Alva Jr. had had a terrible relationship with his dad, who never showed that he loved him. So, to get back at his cold, uncaring father, Jr. used the Quantum Vapor (Bang Baby juice/gas) to become Omnifarious, a shape shifting, power changing super villain. After a lengthy period of ruining his father's business, he and Static fought, which ended in Jr. overdosing on Quantum Vapor, turning him to stone.

After over a year, with several failed attempts to change his son back, a surprising team up of Static and Hot-Streak had managed to restore the boy to his human form. Since then, Alva Sr. had become a much better father figure.

"Um…what's up?" Static asked, trying to keep his cool. As Omnifarious, Jr. had learned Static's identity, and the two had never gotten a chance to talk about it. Seeing as Alva Sr. was now acting like an actual father thanks in part to him, Static figured that if Jr. still remembered who he was, he likely had no plans on telling anyone.

"Not much," Jr. said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "I just…ya know, I just wanted to say thanks for helping me when I was turned to stone. And also for fixing my relationship with my dad."

"Oh, sure, glad to help," Static said, shrugging, "So, this means you and I…?"

Looking to see if anyone was around, Jr. lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, Virgil, you secret's safe with me." He then winked, which Static gladly returned.

"Ok, son, I'm done with my meeting with Mr. Hawkins, so we can go now," Alva Sr. said, as he stepped around a corner. He was actually wearing a smile…that disappeared the moment he saw Static.

"Hey, Alva," Static said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "How's it going?"

"Fine," Alva said, nodding, "We were just going." At that, Alva reached into his pocket to get his phone to call his driver. He fiddled around his pockets for a few seconds, before sighing, "Right, I used my phone to check a few things while I was talking with Mr. Hawkins. It's probably still in his office."

"I'll get it!" Jr. said, running past his dad to Robert Hawkin's office, leaving the two old foes alone.

"So," Alva said after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "Any news on Dr. Todd?"

"None yet," Static shook his head, "I haven't been able to find any clues. Whoever did it knew how to make a murder look like an accident." His eyes then narrowed; "Just like some people knew how to cover up an explosion that gave a bunch of kids super powers."

Alva glared at Static, "Are you implying I had something to do with Dr. Todd's death?"

"Well, you DO know how to sidestep the law. And so do a few of your employees."

" **EX** -employees," Alva's glare deepened, a warning tone in his voice, "I'm telling you, Static. Neither my son or myself had anything to do with Dr. Todd's death. And as I check constantly to make sure they don't try anything, I know Specs, Trapper, and Dr. Roberts are still locked up, so they likely couldn't have anything to do with it, either."

The two glared at each other for a few moments, until Alva Jr. and Mr. Hawkins appeared, both instantly noticing the tension.

"Everything ok?" Alva Jr. asked.

"Just fine," Alva said, looking away from Static, "Well, we'd better get going, son. Nice to see you again, Mr. Hawkins." He then turned back to the super hero and nodded, "Static." At that, the Alvas headed out.

"Well, keep up the good work, Mr. Hawkins," Static said, nodding to his father, "Tell Tina Todd I'll be in touch about her father." At that, Static took off.

As the young teen super hero flew home, he groaned in annoyance. While he was happy the Alvas had a better relationship with each other thanks to him, he was annoyed because Alva Sr. couldn't give him any useful information on Dr. Todd's murder. Sure, Static didn't suspect Alva, but the fact that Alva was responsible for the Big Bang just made Static suspect that Alva (or at least one of Alva's employees) knew something. He could have been wrong, but he was almost certain…

 **BBBRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!**

Static's thoughts were interrupted at that familiar, yet not heard in a while sound: a burglar alarm. A couple blocks away from his current location, a jewelry store was being robbed in broad daylight. Static shook his head as he headed towards the noise; didn't whoever this was know he was protecting the city? It was pointless to try to commit any type of crime with Static around.

Finally reaching his destination, Static noticed a few people fleeing from Ruby's Jewelry Store (cheesy name, in many people's opinion) as a…Bang Baby was robbing it?! Static was shocked to see a Bang Baby, and was even more shocked that it appeared to be a NEW Bang Baby.

This guy was just like Kangor, but with giant hands instead of giant feet. And he was currently using his giant hands to stuff diamonds and other jewels into a very large sack. As Static flew down to him, something else caught his attentions.

"Wait just a second…" Static took a closer look at this new Bang Baby: he was wearing a gray wool cap and a grey and white track suit. The outfit looked vaguely familiar to Static, like he had see it (or at least an outfit similar to it) somewhere before. But before he could reflect on the outfit anymore, the Bang Baby turned to face him.

"No…way…" It couldn't be! But it was! He wasn't wearing any type of mask or anything to shield his face, so Static could easily see the face of… "Nick Connor!"

The jerk who had bullied Virgil's younger friend Jimmy, which ultimately resulted in Jimmy bringing a gun to school to try and kill Nick. Luckily, Frieda and Richie managed to calm him down, but Nick's idiot friends Ray and Kevin tackled Jimmy to the ground, setting the gun off and causing Jimmy to accidentally shoot Richie in the leg. As a result of the incident, all four boys were suspended; Jimmy for 3 months, Nick and his goons for one month; Jimmy went to Juvie, while Nick and his goons had to do community service. It wasn't fair in Virgil's opinion, as Jimmy was the victim (not "technically" the victim, he was the victim, no doubt about it). At least Nick's popularity dwindled down to almost nothing afterwards.

Virgil couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nick's hands were definitely 5 or 6 times larger than they should have been, but he didn't seem to have any trouble with them as he balled them up into fists.

"Don't call me that!" he snapped, tossing his bag of stolen goods to the side, "The name's Pound!"

"Pound? Seriously?" Virgil asked dully, his shock temporarily gone as he thought about how stupid the name was: Nick was a bully, who now had giant fists. Not really that impressive.

"Yeah, as in I'm going to pound you to oblivion!" Pound snarled, as he, surprisingly, managed to jump up 6 feet and grab hold of Static's saucer, pulling it out from under him. This caused our young hero to fall to the ground, landing flat on his back.

"Ugh," he moaned, mentally cursing himself for letting Pound take him by surprise. But if Virgil was surprised before, it was nothing compared to what he heard next:

"So," Pound said, stepping on Static's stomach as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's catch up on old times, shall we, V?"

* * *

Back in Japan, the Titans had just finished their last complementary breakfast at their hotel, and were getting ready to head home.

"Okay," Robin said, going over the list, "Everyone has everything and is ready to go, right?"

The other four teen superheroes nodded, as they made their way towards the T-Ship. Beast Boy was bringing up the rear, still feeling slightly dejected.

The others felt bad for their friend, but, while they would be there for him, they knew that his issues with Terra were something he would have to take care of on his own. When he was ready to talk, they would be ready to listen.

"Okay," Cyborg spoke up, "It'll take us at least 3-4 hours to get back home, and because of the time zone differences, it'll be almost time to go to bed when we get back home."

"No problem," Robin stated, not worried in the least, "We'll do some night patrols, and we should be back on our somewhat normal sleeping schedule in a few days."

"Oh, joyous!" Starfire cried out, zipping forward and picking Robin up from behind, spinning a few feet above the ground the rest of the way to the T-Ship, "We will get home, and I can see my beloved Silkie again, and tell all of our friends and comrades that we are finally a couple!"

Robin blushed at this, as Starfire continued joyously spinning around with him in her arms. There were many reasons why Robin had always loved Starfire, and her constant happy energy was definitely the main reason. It was hard to believe that when she came to Earth a little over a year-and-a-half ago, she was furious, untrusting, and downright scary.

"Oh, Robin, have you called and told Mr. Bruce the good news?" Starfire asked happily, at which the other three Titans cringed; they weren't fully informed of the "breakup" of the Dynamic Duo, just that Robin had decided to head out on his own after a couple of years as Batman's sidekick, and he didn't normally like talking about it.

They all knew Batman was with the Justice League, which, like the Teen Titans, had been formed a little over a year ago. He also had a new Robin (called "Red Robin" because his outfit was mostly red) and a "Batgirl" sidekick, both of whom normally watched over Gotham when Batman was with the League.

"Yeah, I did, actually," Robin said, surprising the others while getting a squeal of delight from Starfire, "After seeing Beast Boy was still on good terms with The DOOM Patrol, I figured it would be a good idea to call and just check up on the old guy. He told me I need to treat you right, make sure you treat me right, and come for a visit sometime soon. He's also proud of what the Titans have become."

"Oh glorious!" Starfire shouted in delight as she, momentarily forgetting her own strength, flew over and squeezed Robin in a bone-crushing hug.

"Starfire!" Robin choked out, slowly turning blue.

"Oh, sorry," Starfire quickly released her boyfriend, who crumpled to the ground as he recollected his breath before slowly standing up.

"Well," Cyborg said, as they climbed into their respective seats in the T-Ship, "I'll be happy to get back home. Do a little work on my car, check up on the Tower's systems, and…" Cyborg paused and looked towards his best friend, "And I was thinkin' we could fix up the B-Ped."

"Really?" Beast Boy asked, momentarily forgetting his distress as he thought about his beloved mode of transportation. After the incident with the Newfu and the Source, his personal Moped had stayed in the Titans Garage, broken-down and falling apart, mainly forgotten.

"Yeah, Man," Cyborg said, now through the headphones, "I was thinking we could soup-it-up. We can give it armor and weapons, a rad paint job, and make it like the T-Ship, R-Cycle, and T-Car: completely battery and solar powered."

"That'd be great," Beast Boy said excitedly as Cyborg started up the T-Ship.

"Alright," Robin said through his headphones as the T-Ship left the ground, "When we get back home, we know what our top priority is: find General Immortus & Madame Rouge!" Beast Boy's eyes turned dark at this.

See, back in the final battle against the Brotherhood of Evil, the group, which consisted of practically every Titans enemy out there, had been defeated and captured in Professor Chang's Flash-Freezer. All except 2…

Puppet King and XL Terrestrial; a living puppet fueled by magic, and a former HIVE Academy student who was an alien. The duo had managed to sneak out of the battle in the last few moments, when the Titans were distracted with the Brain's Nuclear Bomb, capturing the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, and Beast Boy's corny "Brain Freeze" joke. As such, when the NSA (National Super Agency) and WOOHP (World Order of Human Protection) showed up to take the villains to prison, the duo managed to unfreeze a handful of them, including Professor Chang, the HIVE 5, and both Madame Rouge and General Immortus. Though Puppet King (literally) slipped up and was captured, XL managed to flee with his comrades. **[2]**

While the former HIVE students and Chang were still threats, the group knew Immortus and Rogue needed to be recaptured as soon as possible. As such, that would be the first piece of business when they got back to Jump City.

"But first," Robin continued, "We have a stop to make."

"Where to?" Cyborg asked.

"Dakota," Robin replied, as the team took one last moment to wave out their windows to their cheering fans.

"You mean the place where the Big Bang happened?" Raven asked, "I thought they all lost their powers because some scientist found a "cure" for them."

"They did," Robin said, "But when I talked to Bruce, he asked me if I had invited Static and Gear into the Titans, and I realized that I haven't. I looked up their records, some old newspaper clippings and all that. I think both of them will be a fine addition to the team."

"Well, Cy, looks like you'll have some competition for smartest Titan," Beast Boy joked, chuckling (it sounded rather forced, but the team expected that).

"Yeah, yeah," Cyborg replied dryly as the T-Ship headed towards its destination.

* * *

"You did good, Pound," Shiv assured the young Bang Baby, "All we wanted to do was rough him up a bit. And of course scare him, too; it's gotta freak him out that a NEW Bang Baby knows his secret identity." Shiv chuckled insanely at this.

"But I **don't** know his identity," Pound growled as he tossed his bag of loot on the pile next to Shiv's throne (a cushioned recliner with cup holders).

It was later in the evening, and Pound had just returned to the Meta-Breed's lair after giving Static a brutal thrashing. The beating wasn't more than 10 minutes, but it was enough. The hero was unconscious as Pound fled, right before the police showed up. Static would be fine by morning, but he would be sore for a while; those bruises would stick for at least a month.

When leaving the Dakota Retirement Home the previous day (even though his required community service from the "Jimmy" incident was long over, his father and step-mother were still making him do volunteer work to make up for his actions), Nick had been approached by Shiv (in "disguise" as an old man with a white beard and trench coat). Shiv offered to give Nick super powers in exchange for joining the Meta-Breed under his command, and Nick was more than a little suspicious. After all, he was just a bully, not a gang member or criminal, so why would Shiv want him? But Shiv had insisted, calling him "just right" for the group, and even asked him to bring Ray and Kevin along. He gave the young bully directions to the Meta-Breed's hideout and told him to think about it.

After debating it with himself all night, Nick finally agreed, and called up Ray and Kevin. The three weren't allowed to hang out anymore, but of course they didn't care what their parents said; the trio had stolen some old cell phones during a concert that they weren't supposed to be at, and were using them to keep in touch (don't ask me why the cell phones' rightful owners hadn't shut them off yet, I really don't know). He didn't tell them the details, just that their "big score" had come in.

The next morning, the trio left their houses and met up halfway to school, as usual, but then deterred from their usual route to follow Shiv's directions to the Meta-Breed's new lair. Well, they were actually lead to a manhole cover, that could TAKE them to the Meta-Breed's lair. There, the three were greeted by a kid their age. He was incredibly wimpy and way too pale. He had a shaved head and was wearing a basketball uniform that was way too big on him. He introduced himself as Tone Loc, and lead them inside.

When asking how this was gonna work, Tone told them to be patient and that everything would be explained soon enough. By the time they got to the Meta-Breed's hideout (no, no, not spoiling the surprise), the three were beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. But Tone told them to wait just one more minute as he disappeared up a staircase. Nick listened up the stairs for any sign of what was going on, but all he could hear was a lot of wind.

Next thing the boys knew, a hulking, 6-foot-tall behemoth with what appeared to be elephant-like skin came stomping down the stairs. He was wearing the same outfit Tone had been wearing, which caused Nick to croak out in shock, "Tone?"

"The name's Hyde, kids," Hyde told them, "Former leader of the Ruffpack, current muscle for the Meta-Breed." He then gestured up the staircase as he told them, "Right up there is your big score. Care to take it?"

Nick, though nervous, nodded and headed up the stairs. Thusly, Pound was born. However, when he got back, he discovered Ray and Kevin were gone. Hyde simply explained that they were going to get their "assignments" later. Pound's assignment was to go rob a jewelry store to get Static's attention. Hyde then informed him that Shiv discovered Static's secret identity, and his name started with a V, so Pound was to act like he knew who Static was, to throw the hero off his game.

Now, Pound was back. He and over two dozen of Static's former adversaries had been drafted into the Meta-Breed under Shiv's command. Apparently, Shiv had somehow managed to spring them all from the police precinct's Meta-human Ward…without the police even knowing! Nick had been listening to the radio most of the day, and yet their was nothing about the massive breakout. Of course, he didn't ask Shiv this, figuring he would be told something like, "It'll all be explained in due time." So now the group was fully re-powered and ready to take on Static. Apparently they were just waiting for a couple more things before Shiv would give the okay.

As Nick was thinking over everything that had happened to him, Shiv was talking to someone on his phone, "…and just so you know, I have Tarmack here, and he told me how you two don't necessarily play nice. I have your "Spectral" and "Speedtrap" outfits here, ready to go. Complete your end of the deal, and you'll be handsomely rewarded. Try to double-cross me, and you'll have over 20 super villains to deal with. Are we clear, Mr. Specs?" He listened to Specs' reply as he smiled, "Good, let me know when you find it, and I'll see you this Saturday."

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Shiv grinned at the group of villains. "Trust me, boys and girls," he announced, "Static and Gear won't know what hit 'em. We're gonna take those goodie two-shoes heroes down. By the end of this week, the Meta-Breed will be rid of its greatest threat, and Dakota City will be ours!" He pumped his fist at that, as the crowd of villains let out a wild cheer.

"YYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"

As the villains were cheering, Shiv secretly reached up and clicked a hidden ear piece in his ear. "Sound good?" he asked quietly, though loud enough for the person on the other end to hear him.

"Sounds perfect," came the dark reply of Mr. W, who was miles away in his own lair, as he watched the secret cameras he had set up, watching the Meta-Breed, Static, and all of Static's friends, "Sounds absolutely perfect."

* * *

 **Teen Titans timeline:**

 **So, right before Halloween was the episode "Go", with Season 1 happening after it, then you saw Terra's timeline, so yeah.**

 **No, this will not be a Raven/Beast Boy story; I'm a supporter of Beast Boy/Terra. For a little extra drama, Beast Boy's emotions over Terra and "Things Change" will be the B-plot in this story. And, as previously stated, I have ideas for a series of sorts, so Beast Boy's love life will play a minor part in this story, and a bigger part in an upcoming story. For this chapter, I just wanted to show Raven's barely-shown sweet side…it** _ **does**_ **exist, we just have to really look for it. Also, I kinda like the Beast Boy & Raven friendship.**

 **Also, anyone notice anything in particular I said? You have to be a HUGE Static fan to notice it, but I made a tiny little change that will come into play later. It's something the writers of the show likely didn't notice, but I did. If you don't notice it, it'll come into play later.**

 **[1] This is in a shared universe. So, which non DC superhero movie around the early 2000s had a national super ban?**

 **[2] A: In Titans Together, at the end, in 2 different scenes, Puppet King and XL Terrestrial were shown standing WITH the Titans, unfrozen. Obviously an error, but later comics show that the Brotherhood escaped. So I decided to use the error. PK and XLT escaped, and helped two of the Brotherhood escape. Simple as that.**

 **B: Huh, NSA and WOOHP. While in real life NSA stands for "National Security Agency", in one superhero movie the S stood for Super. And what cartoons used WOOHP? Again, shared universe.**

 **R &R**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter. So sorry for the long delay, I've been going through some stuff.**

 **Also, I wanna give my friend, E, credit, for helping me fill in some gaps in this story and series as a whole.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **FRIEDA POV**

"…so yeah, I wanna ask Virgil, but I'm just worried something will happen and he won't show up. But then again, if I don't, what if someone else does? I mean, I think Shenice might also want to ask him, so I know I need to make my move soon. Ugh, why does that boy have to make it so hard?" my best friend, Daisy Watkins, was telling me as we made our way to homeroom.

It was early Tuesday morning, and Daisy, of course, wanted to ask our friend Virgil to the Valentine's Day Dance this Saturday. The only problem was Virgil had a…record of not showing up. The reason behind this was, well, he's a super hero.

I mean, come on! They've never told me, but it is beyond obvious that Virgil Hawkins and Richie Foley are Static and Gear. Let me explain how I know:

-Richie has always been a slacker, floating by in school, barely passing his classes. Then, at the end of school last year, he turns it around and becomes the smartest kid in school (not ONE of the smartest, he is THE smartest). And this happened right around the time Gear became Static's partner. Coincidence? I think not!

-Virgil was always the guy who kept his promises, no matter what. Then, after the Big Bang, Static shows up, and Virgil starts constantly disappearing. Again, coincidence? I think not!

So, these past few months, I've personally kept track of when Static and Gear were taking care of some Bang Baby problems. Each time, Virgil and Richie were no where to be found. Every 2nd time I witnessed a Bang Baby fight, I've tried to call Virgil or Richie, and each time I got voicemail. So yeah, I get why the two of them often have to bail, and I always forgive them (after Daisy and I chew them out and they apologize, of course).

I don't know if Daisy knows, so I haven't brought it up with her. Usually she's forgiving when Virgil and Richie cancel plans, so I'm not sure if she knows, or if it's just her natural inability to hold a grudge.

"Yo, Frieda, got somethin' ya wanna ask me?"

I sighed. I guess I should mention that I'm pretty popular, and a LOT of guys wanna ask me out. Only problem: I'm not interested! I'm…embarrassed to admit I have one of those "only one not interested" crushes: Richie.

I'm not vain, I don't wanna ask Richie out because he's the ONLY guy in school who has never flirted with me (OR because he's a super hero). It's just that, because he's only ever been a friend to me, I've really gotten to know him, and I've really started to like him. I think my crush started to form within the past few months, and I've really been debating asking him to the Valentine's Day Dance.

I wanna ask Richie, but I'm too nervous. Yeah, I know, the girl who's been nicknamed "Hurricane Frieda" because of how I always take charge and get things done is too nervous to talk to my friend about becoming more than friends.

"Nothing comes to mind, Drake," I replied, as I brushed past him. He was the fifth guy to try to get me to ask him to the dance, and it was kinda wearing on my nerves. All the more reason to ask Richie, seeing as people will probably back off when they see I'm taken.

"Hey girls," our friend Shenice Vale came up to us, "What up?"

"Not much," I replied, "Daisy's just nervous about asking Virgil to the Valentine's Day Dance."

"Frieda!" Daisy blushed, "Why don't you just go to the office and announce it over the intercom?"

I rolled my eyes at that; I just couldn't get why Daisy was so nervous. But then again, I was nervous about my crush on Richie… But it was different with Daisy and Virgil, because they obviously liked each other. I don't know if Richie had any feelings for me, and mine for him were cleverly hid.

"Well, why don't ya just ask him?" Shenice asked, like it was nothing (which it kinda was).

"But you don't understand," Daisy complained, "You can't just jump from "friends" to…"more". It doesn't work that way. You have to take your time."

"Oh, come on, Daisy," Shenice rolled her eyes, "Ya gotta take risks if you wanna enjoy life. At worst, he'll say no and it'll be awkward between you for a couple weeks."

"That's what I'm worried about," Daisy moaned, leaning against the lockers, "If I do that, he'll know I have feelings for him, and if he doesn't recuperate those feelings, it'll be more than a coupe weeks of awkwardness."

"First of all," Shenice said, "You're not an adult, so don't say "recuperate", just say he won't feel the same. And second, why wouldn't he feel the same?"

"Exactly," I said, "I mean, I honestly think he likes you." That was a lie; I flat out KNEW Virgil liked her back. It was pretty obvious.

"What in the world?" Daisy interrupted my thoughts with her surprise. I turned towards where she was looking, and saw Virgil and Richie. Nothing out of the ordinary…except upon closer inspection, Virgil was clearly limping! He was walking in a very sore way, as though his whole body hurt.

* * *

 **VIRGIL POV**

Ugh! I felt awful, like I had been hit by a bus.

After my beating from Pound, I lost consciousness, and woke up a few hours later in the hospital. Chief Barnsdale explained that after I had blacked out, Officer Trina Jessup (my pop's girlfriend) and her partner Kim Garcia had shown up to investigate the alarm and had found me unconscious on the sidewalk. They took me to the hospital, and made sure that no one removed my mask. Apart from a few bad bruises and being extremely sore, I was fine.

I told Barnsdale what had happened, with Nick Connor (who I claimed to remember from the Jimmy incident, so as to avoid suspicion) becoming a Bang Baby with giant fists. Just to be safe, I decided to leave out the part that he APPARENTLY KNEW MY IDENTITY!

Seriously! Where the heck had that come from? Last I knew, Nick was still doing community service and hanging out with his lowlife pals Kevin and Ray. How the heck did he get powers and find out my identity.

Ok, to be honest, he didn't exactly call me Virgil, he called me V. But still, the way he said it… I just know I have to be careful, especially with Sharon and Pops.

I still remembered my encounter with Dr. Karen Roberts, or "Omnara" as she called herself. She had used spy equipment to discover my secret identity, and had kidnapped my Pops to blackmail me into helping her with her evil schemes. Luckily Gear and I had managed to defeat her, and last I heard she was still in jail, a bit whacky from her "Project Omni" (a way to link humans and computers) overloading in her brain. So, assuming she's still in a partial coma, she clearly couldn't tell anyone my identity, so who else knew?

Edwin Alva Jr. had, just yesterday, assured me he and I were ok and he no longer had any reason to expose my identity. Since I fixed his relationship with his father, I doubt he was lying to me.

Eddie Felson, AKA Speedwarp, was still apparently stuck in "slow motion" so to say, so people couldn't really understand anything he said. Unless he took a good week or so to write out "Virgil Hawkins is Static", then he's off the table. Plus, even if he did, how on Earth would he get out of prison to show anyone? Might not be a bad idea to check on him later, but he should be ok.

Madelyn Spaulding lost her memory of my identity after our first encounter, and at our second encounter she did nothing to imply she still remembered.

Let's see, that takes care of all my enemies who found out my identity, so that only leaves Pops, Richie, and the Justice League. None of them would tell anyone my identity, so they're out.

"UGH!" I groaned as I entered school.

"V, you ok?" Richie asked, looking at me in concern.

"Yeah, just hurtin' my head trying to find out how Nick could possibly have found out my secret identity. I've gone over everyone, hero and villain, who knows, and no one could have possibly told him."

"Don't worry. We'll figure it out, man," Richie assured me, looking all around. I followed his gaze, and saw people were shooting me looks of confusion, and a couple of sympathy.

"Ya know, Pops said I should stay home today," I said trying to make conversation, "But I said I'd be ok. Honestly, I'm starting to wish I'd listened to him."

"Eh, you'll be fine," Richie shrugged, throwing his arm around my shoulder, causing me to wince. "Er…sorry," he said, quickly pulling his arm away, "If nothing else, you may wanna sit Gym class out."

"I'll think about it," I muttered.

"Virgil, what happened?" I looked up to see our friends Daisy, Frieda, and Shenice walk up to us, looks of concern on their faces.

"Oh, I wasn't paying attention and fell down the stairs this morning," I told them. Pops said that if I was going to go to school, I at least had to have a believable lie as to why I was liming, and falling down the stairs seemed believable enough to me.

"Oh, you poor thing," Daisy said in that sweet, caring voice of hers. I wanted to melt when I heard it, but I managed to keep my cool.

"You really should have stayed home," Shenice said. I knew she knew that I had gotten injured in a super fight, seeing as she was She-Bang, one of my partners. Not actually a Bang Baby, but genetically engineered in a lab, Shenice didn't lose her powers after Dr. Todd released his cure, and thus was still apart of Team Static. She and her parents had been investigating Dr. Todd's death, too, but so far they had found nothing.

"I know," I replied, "My Pops said I should, too, but I told him I'd be fine."

"Well, I hope you made the right choice. You know you need to make sure you can do your best today," Shenice said, and I knew what she meant: to the girls, it sounded like she was telling me to do my best at school, but she really meant that I needed to be prepared in case something super-related happened. I hadn't talked to her about Nick yet, but I figured I could do that later today.

 **BBBBBRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!**

That was the five minute warning bell. I looked at the girls, "I'll be fine. If I need to, I'll go to the nurse's office to get some pain killers."

The girls looked like they wanted to protest, but ultimately nodded their heads and headed off, Daisy shooting me one last concerned glance as she did so.

All in all, the day went surprisingly ok. I got through my classes fine. I sat out in Gym class, during which I heard the Gym teacher talk on his phone about how Nick, Kevin and Ray were absent for the second day in a row.

No doubt that however Nick got powers, he shared it with his two buddies. This, of course, could end up being a very big problem for me. Not only was there somehow a new way for normal people to get powers, but apparently it had fallen into the wrong hands.

As soon as school let out, I met up with Richie and Shenice at my locker. I explained to them that we needed to do some serious patrolling and investigating. When Richie asked if I thought Nick getting powers had anything to do with Dr. Todd's death, I simply replied, "I'm not sure, but I know something is clearly wrong here."

"I gotta head home, talk to my parents about a few things," Shenice said, "I'll meet you guys at the Gas Station in an hour, kay?"

"Nah," I shook my head, "Just start patrolling around your place, "We'll meet up at the Gas Station later tonight, around 5:30ish."

"Got it," Shenice said, as she headed off. Richie nodded to me, before heading off as well. I knew he had to get a couple things from the computer lab for his advanced classes, so I decided to head out and get to patrolling.

After making sure I had what I would need for the night, I headed out the front door. I had taken a few extra minutes, so the front of school was nearly deserted, with anyone still there walking away. However, I did notice one kid who was standing on the sidewalk, staring at the front of the school. He looked maybe my height, was Caucasian with slicked back black hair, and was wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt outfit, with sunglasses.

As soon as I stepped through the front doors, he looked up, and I swear he gave a small smile, as though he had been waiting for me. Sure enough, he started walking towards me. I wasn't worried, seeing as no one was around and I could covertly use my powers to defend myself if I needed to.

"Virgil Hawkins?" he asked. I was wary, but nodded my head. He smiled a sly smile and said, "My name is Dick, and me and my friends wanted to talk to you about something."

At this point I knew something was up. Essentially, Virgil Hawkins is a nobody. Yeah, I do pretty well in school, but if someone was looking for a scholarship to give out, A) they would look for Richie because of his big brain, and B) they wouldn't send a kid to give it out. And all in all I couldn't think of any other reason that someone would be looking for me…I paused my train of thought.

Dr. Todd was murdered with little to no evidence left behind, and his murder included the loss of the Bang Baby cure. Then, some random bully who I have an indirect connection to ended up getting super powers and apparently learning my identity, and now some kid says he and his friends want to talk to me.

Despite my sore leg, I instantly took off running.

"WAIT!" he called after me, but I didn't listen as I headed around the school, figuring I could get to an alley and change into Static.

I was still limping, but all in all was running ok. I ran across the back parking lot and hopped the fence, before heading towards the buildings across the street. There didn't appear to be anyone around, but I've learned better safe than sorry. Looking back and seeing the kid about to hop on the fence, I shot an electric charge at it. It wasn't much, and it would disappear after a couple minutes, but it was enough to shock him into deciding to take the long way around.

I was almost into the alley, when another kid jumped out. To describe him, he could easily be the first kid's younger brother. Standing behind him was an African-American teen who had at least half-a-foot on me.

"We just wanna talk," the shorter kid said.

"You're Virgil Hawkins, right?" the taller guy asked.

"Yeah, I am," I replied, holding my hands behind my back as I got them ready to fire a couple bolts of lightning, "Plain old Virgil Hawkins."

"Bruce sent us!" I turned and saw the first kid walk up to me, his hands in front of him to show he meant no harm.

I paused, as I knew he had to be talking about Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman. I wasn't sure what to do, but I powered down my charge.

"Please, just let us explain," the tallest boy said, before looking around as he moved his hand to his wrist. His wrist was bare, no wristbands or anything, but he appeared to be pressing buttons. And boy, was I not expecting what happened next…

* * *

In his secret lair, Mr. W looked at his wristwatch. 3:15. It was time.

"Shiv," he clicked his earpiece, waiting for his puppet to respond.

"Yeah, Boss?" came Shiv's eager reply.

"It's time to instigate the next phase of the plan."

"So soon?" Shiv asked, the nervousness apparent in his voice.

"If I recall," Mr. W sighed, "You are the one who told the group your plan would be ready by February 12th. It's already February 8th. If you want your plan to work, you need to keep a set schedule. Trust me, your team is more than ready to start the next phase."

"Ok," Shiv sighed, "I'll tell them it's time."

"Good, good," Mr. W replied, looking at his hidden camera in Virgil's living room, "Soon, Static will pay for ruining my life."

* * *

 **Again, sorry for the delay. And I know it's a bit shorter, but I'll admit it was mainly meant to be filler in order to set up the next couple chapters.**

 **Let me explain: I thought Richie and Frieda would be an interesting couple, seeing as they are close friends, and Virgil and Daisy obviously have feelings for each other, so it could end up being like a "double date" type thing. Also, in the series you likely noticed that Frieda was usually either oblivious to other peoples' crushes on her (like Virgil and Jimmy) or openly annoyed by them (like Hotstreak and Nick). So, the thought of her having feelings for Richie just seemed like an interesting idea.**

 **And Frieda being as smart as she is, it just made sense for her to figure out that Static and Gear are Virgil and Richie.**

 **And hey, just realized how Mr. W seems to be a bit like the Reverse Flash from the new** _ **The Flash**_ **. But don't worry, I'm not ripping it off, just borrowing bits of it. Honestly I had the villain planned out before** _ **The Flash**_ **even began.**

 **R &R**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here it is, the official "Titans Meet Static!"**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

"…and that's it," Shiv explained, "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Well…" his associate rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "You're sure it won't be any trouble?"

"Relax," Shiv waved the concern off, "It'll be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Now go on," he pushed the other man out the door, "It's almost 3:30. You need to make sure it's done within the next hour. When you're done, just come back here."

"Ok, boss," the guy sighed, "I just hope you know what you're doing." And he was gone.

"Oh, I know what I'm doing, alright," Shiv grinned wildly to himself, "I know **exactly** what I'm doing!

* * *

 **VIRGIL POV**

I've partnered with Batman several times over the course of my career. Because of those team-ups, I also got to partner with the Justice League. At another point I teamed-up with Superman, then there's Anansi, Soul Power and Sparky, and the Hoop Squad. So yeah, after many times of working with other heroes, you'd think I'd be used to it when they suddenly appear in my city, asking for my help.

Wrong! It was still quite a shock (no pun intended).

Needless to say, I was more surprised than anything when the tallest guy appeared to press some buttons on his apparently bare wrist. Suddenly, where there once was a normal, tall, slightly buff African-American teen…stood Cyborg, one of the founding members of the Teen Titans.

Next to him, the shortest kid did the same, his Caucasian skin and black hair both turning green, revealing Beast Boy.

I turned around, and sure enough, the first guy removed his sunglasses, revealing Robin's mask. He shook his head, and whatever was slicking his hair back was gone, causing it to spike up.

"We don't walk around in our secret identities," Robin said before I could say anything, "But I know you do, so we figured it would be best to meet you in disguise to avoid blowing your cover."

"Thanks," I said, looking around. The area we were in was pretty deserted, so we should be ok. Just to be safe, though, we stepped into the alley.

"So, Static, good to meet ya. I've heard good things," Robin said, holding out his hand, which I gladly shook. Something seemed…different, though. I looked him over, before realizing what was off.

"I met Robin a couple years ago," I said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity, "And being honest, you don't really look like him. I mean, the mask is the same, but the outfit's a bit off."

"That's Red Robin," Robin said, "Batman and I split our partnership roughly around the time of the Big Bang. So, by the time you and him teamed up, he already had a new Robin."

"Oh, ok," I said, "I wondered how Robin could be Batman's partner AND be the leader of the Titans. A second Robin makes sense."

"Yeah, a _second_ Robin," Robin muttered, looking down, as though he was uncomfortable. Before I could ask what was up, he shook his head and said, "So, I'm sure you can guess why we're here."

"You need my help with something?" I asked, at which the three of them grinned.

"You could say that," Robin said, as they each reached into their pockets and pulled something out. My eyes went wide when I saw what they were.

"Are those…" I couldn't process what was happening. It seemed like a dream.

"T-Communicators," Robin said proudly, as each Titan handed theirs to me, "One for you, one for Gear, and one for She-Bang. Consider yourselves Honorary Titans."

I stared at the three devices I was now holding. Me and my team were now Titans? This was definitely a dream alright…a dream come true!

"YES!" I said, jumping in the air like a little kid, pumped beyond all belief. However, upon landing, I saw the smirks on their faces and quickly regained my composure, "I mean, thank you very much for this honor. I'm certain my teammates will be equally happy about this."

"I'm sure they will be," Beast Boy said, grinning at me, "It was a dream come true for me when I joined the Titans. Nothing like being a part of a team, I'll tell ya that. They're like your family…" At this, his smile deflated and he his spirits seemed to be down. Cyborg put a hand on his shoulder and offered an encouraging smile. I debated in my head for a second, before deciding that whatever was going on was none of my business.

"Well, we need to head back to Jump City," Robin said, shaking my hand again, "When there's trouble, you know who to call."

I nodded, before a thought occurred to me, "Wait, where are Raven and Starfire?"

"Oh," Robin looked surprised by that answer, "Er…they're relaxing at the T-Ship."

Something about the way he said that made me think he was lying to me, but I let it go. I was a superhero. Surely if he had some type of situation he would ask for my help.

"Ok," I said finally (and I swear I saw him breathe a small sigh of relief), "I'll, uh, be in touch. Thanks again."

At that, the trio nodded before putting their disguises back on and heading off.

I stood there, not moving as I looked at my very own T-Communicator, for what had to be at least 10 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. I figured I'd end up joining the Justice League some day (Green Lantern even hinted at the possibility when I helped the League take down Brainiac), but I didn't figure it would happen so soon. Well, technically the Teen Titans were a separate team from the Justice League, but obviously some day soon they would see the benefits of working together.

"I gotta tell the others," I muttered, finally snapping out of my daze as I pulled out the Shock Vox Richie had designed (essentially, our version of the T-Communicator).

"Gear, She-Bang, have I got some GREAT news," I started, as I walked further into the alley and began to change into Static.

I couldn't wait to tell Pops!

* * *

Upon arriving on the outskirts of town where the T-Ship was hidden, the male Titans ditched their disguises.

"Well, that takes care of that," Robin said, "Glad Batman suggested Static, I have a feeling he'll be a good addition to the team."

"Same here," Cyborg said, walking up to the ship and calling up, "Raven, Star, we're back."

There was no reply.

"Girls?" Beast Boy called up, curious. He turned to his two friends, "Think they're asleep?"

"They aren't in the T-Ship," Robin said suddenly. Cyborg and Beast Boy shot each other a confused look, before turning to their leader.

"Say what?" Cyborg asked.

"Did you send them out to get a bite to eat?" Beast Boy asked, "I'm not sure Raven would like that. Even if it's just asking, it seems kind of sexist to ask the girls to get the food."

Robin rolled his eyes at Beast Boy's comment before remarking, "No, I didn't send them on a food run. 'Sigh' Remember I said I talked to Batman?"

"Yeah," the two nodded their heads.

"Well, after I said I'd talk to Static, he asked if I wouldn't mind helping him out with something. I asked what, and he gave me a mission," Robin began, "You guys are to head back to Jump City. I sent Raven and Starfire ahead so they can get a head start on finding Immortus and Rogue. Raven's in charge, and I'll be back in a week at the absolute latest."

"Say what?" Cyborg asked, "You're doing a solo mission?"

"Why?" Beast Boy asked, "Wouldn't it be better to have the whole team on board?"

"Normally yes," Robin said, nodding his head in agreement, "But Batman told me this mission requires more stealth than fighting, so it would draw too much attention to have the five of us here."

Beast Boy and Cyborg shared an uncertain look, before ultimately shrugging and climbing into the T-Ship. Suddenly, Beast Boy looked back at his leader.

"Wait, Robin, won't people notice the leader of the Teen Titans snooping around town?"

Robin smirked, "Don't you worry about that, I've got it covered."

* * *

At the Freeman Community Center, Robert was doing his rounds, making sure all the kids were ok and doing their respective chores/homework.

All in all, everything was going ok. Until he came upon young Tina Todd. She was in the cafeteria, setting up chairs for dinner. She was doing an ok job, except for the dead look on her face. Robert recognized that look.

For weeks after the death of his wife, he saw that look on his kids' faces, as well as every time he looked in the mirror. He knew Tina was still upset over her father's death, as well as the reason behind it.

Everyone in town knew Donald Todd was murdered because of his connection to the Bang Baby cure. But whoever did it clearly knew what they were doing, because there was absolutely no evidence linking it to murder. Even the traffic cams on the street by the lab hadn't caught anyone entering or exiting the lab that night, save for a blurry image of a dark figure walking _by_ the lab about 10 minutes before the fire happened. But it was too dark and there were no cameras directly facing the entrance of the lab, so it was impossible to tell if the figure had entered the lab.

Robert was glad his son and his team were investigating the murder, but so far they hadn't come up with anything. Gear had used Backpack to go over the internet's data and had discovered that the virus that wiped the hard drive clean had been manually placed into the computer, but there was no way to trace it back to its source.

So now Tina was in a deep depression. She did her chores and kept her room tidy, but other than that she kept to herself. Even at school she mainly spent her time alone, keeping her head down and warding off her friends' attempts to console her.

"Hey, Tina," he kindly greeted, "Things are looking good here. Good job."

"Thanks," Tina muttered, still just keeping her head down as she set up the chairs.

"It's Taco Tuesday," Robert said, "I know they're your favorite."

"My dad made the best tacos," Tina muttered, "If he hadn't become a scientist, he could have become a chef. Plus, he would still be here." Tears slowly started welling in her eyes.

Before Robert could say anything to console her, they heard sirens outside. It was just one siren, but they could see the flashing lights through the windows. The two shared a curious look before heading out the side door, Tina wiping her eyes as she did so.

Robert was surprised to see his girlfriend, Officer Trina Jessup, along with her boss Chief Barnsdale exiting a police cruiser.

"Chief Barsdale, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Robert asked, casting a side glance at Tina, who had a small spark of hope in her eyes.

Before the police chief could say anything, Static came flying up. He had a happy look on his face, that quickly turned to surprise upon seeing Chief Barnsdale.

"Chief, what's going on?" Static asked, floating down towards the group, while still hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Static, you'll be happy to hear that I've had a special team investigating Dr. Todd's death, and we've finally found some solid evidence."

"Really?" Tina cried hopefully. Finally, she could get justice for her father's murder.

"So you have a suspect?" Static asked. First he joined the Titans, and now his final loose end was getting tied up. Could this day get any better?

"No," Barnsdale said, "We know exactly who did it."

"You mean _you_ do," Trina spoke up, "You haven't told me who it is, sir. Plus, shouldn't we arrest the perp and _then_ come and tell Tina the good news?"

"That's what we're doing," Barnsdale said, to everyone's confusion. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he rushed forward and grabbed Robert by the shoulder, before forcing him against the wall and handcuffing his hands behind his back.

"Robert Hawkins, you are under arrest for the murder of Dr. Donald Todd!"

"Wait, what?" Static cried in shock, as he, Trina, and Tina stared at the scene in front of them in shock.

* * *

Robin, still in his civilian disguise, walked down the street. He was in the rougher part of town. He didn't see many people around, which was good.

When Batman asked him if he had invited Static to the Titans, he had also given his former sidekick a secret side mission: investigate Dr. Todd's murder. While the police were willing to accept that there wasn't enough evidence to continue the investigation, Batman outright refused to believe that. After all, this guy had made a cure for superpowers, more or less, so there was no way his death was an accident.

Since Batman himself couldn't make it to look around, he had asked Robin to do so instead. Though hesitant at first, Robin agreed when Batman stated he was only _asking_ Robin to help, not telling him, as he valued him as a partner and not a sidekick.

However, Batman had pointed out that whoever had murdered Dr. Todd would likely be laying low since Static and his team were investigating, so the leader of the Teen Titans could cause the murderer to skip town. Though stumped at first, Robin revealed he had an idea for how he could investigate without making a scene.

Looking all around, Robin saw he was alone, so he stepped into the building he was nearest to, which happened to be an old apartment building. There was no lock on the front door, so he casually strolled in. The building was how you would imagine it: the lobby's windows were tinted with dirt, so it was almost dark inside, save for the flickering light over the front desk, which contained a bored, middle-aged man slumped over looking at a magazine and barely paying attention to anything around him; Robin could also hear the somewhat predictable couple fighting in one of the second-story rooms.

"…AND YOU'RE ALWAYS SO DRUNK I CAN'T BELIEVE…"

Robin ignored all of this and walked into the small hall right beside the desk. There was a stairwell at the end of it, and on both sides of the stairs were the bathrooms. The Boy Wonder walked down the hall, on alert as though someone might jump out of the shadows at any moment (which wasn't exactly paranoia, considering he was a superhero who was currently in a pretty rough place).

The bathrooms were just two doors opposite from each other. Knocking on the door, Robin received no answer, so he pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was a small bathroom, consisting of only a toilet, a sink, a paper towel dispenser, and a trashcan.

Making sure the door was locked, Robin slowly pulled off his civilian outfit, revealing the black fabric underneath…

* * *

 **Whoa, bet ya weren't expecting that, now were you?**

 **What will Virgil do now that his father has been arrested? What is the next part of Shiv's plan? What is Robin's solution to avoid detection as he completes his mission?**

 **R &R to find out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long delay.**

* * *

 **STATIC POV**

"Virgil, pick up your phone! Please! Daddy's been arrested and I have no idea what's going on!"

I ignored the message from my sister as I continued flying around in a daze. I couldn't even focus on where I was going, I just knew I was high enough to avoid hitting anything. Pops had been arrested about an hour ago, and I still had no idea what to do.

Finally taking a moment to calm down, I flew to a random rooftop and sat down on the edge. After taking a deep breath, I went over everything in my head for what had to be the billionth time:

-Dr. Todd was murdered, obviously because he had managed to make a cure for the Quantum Vapor, which likely ticked a lot of Bang Babies off.

-The killer was clearly a professional, killing Dr. Todd in a way that made it obvious he was murdered, yet leaving behind absolutely no evidence.

-The police had had to drop the investigation after just a couple days, while Gear and I had kept looking into it a month later, with next to no results.

-Out of nowhere, Chief Barnsdale suddenly claims he knows exactly who murdered Dr. Todd, before arresting my father.

Nothing added up! How could Chief Barnsdale suspect Pops? Who was this "special team" he had told me about, and why didn't I know about them? I just…I had no idea how to handle all this.

Well, I did know what to do: I had to clear Pop's name, and the only way to do that was to catch the actual killer. I just had to figure out who it was and how he had managed to frame my Pops.

"Static!" Suddenly, my Shock Vox came on, revealing a distressed sounding Richie, "Static, Sharon called me. What happened? Why did your dad get arrested?"

I took my Shock Vox out of my pocket and pressed it, ready to tell Gear what had happened…but what could I say? The man with over a hundred arrests and a reputation for always getting the bad guys had somehow falsely suspected my father as the murderer of one of Dakota's most respected scientists.

Sighing again, I set the Shock Vox down…before slapping myself as hard as I could. I then took a deep breath, before picking up the Shock Vox and saying, "Richie, you and Shenice meet me at the GenomaTech site in an hour. I'll explain everything then, I promise."

It was silent for a moment, before Richie finally responded, "Ok…see ya then, V."

I sighed again as I placed the Shock Vox back in my pocket. I was still freaking out, but I knew I had to be calm about this whole situation. If I was gonna catch Dr Todd's killer and clear Pop's name, I had to keep a straight head about all this.

As I was about to take off, my phone rang again. I groaned, figuring it was Sharon again. But now that I was thinking a little more clearly, I figured it would be best to answer her and tell her that I would be home late. I would take the heat from her later.

I pulled out my phone and opened it. Before I could get a single word out, however, the person on the other end started talking.

"Virgil, your dad's been arrested. Where are you? Why didn't you pick up when Sharon called?"

It was Officer Jessup. After she and my Pops had started getting serious, she had given me and Sharon her personal number in case of an emergency, and Pops had us give her our numbers for the same reason. Obviously she must have gone to the house to check up on us and tell us the news, but then found out I wasn't home and that Sharon couldn't reach me.

I took a moment before answering. After all, as far as Trina knew, I had no idea that my father had been arrested and was just going about my normal day. This had to be convincing.

"Wait, what?!" I cried, "Pops got arrested? Why? What happened?"

She sighed as she began to explain. She asked if I knew about the Bang Baby cure, and I replied that I did. She then asked if I knew about the circumstances surround Dr. Todd's "mysterious death".

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound confused, "He was murdered because he made the Bang Baby cure, but the police said they had, like, next to no evidence to find out who did it."

"Well," Trina sighed, "I don't know how to tell you this, but Chief Barnsdale says that your father is apparently the person who killed Dr. Todd."

"What?" I cried in pretend shock, "That doesn't make any sense! How could he suspect Pops? What evidence does he have?"

"I don't know," Trina sighed again, "He's apparently had a "special team" investigating Dr. Todd's death, and they supposedly found "solid proof" that points to your father. He isn't telling me, or anyone for that matter, any details. I tried to push it, but he stated all would be revealed soon enough, so I left and came to your house."

"Well…" I paused as I thought of what to say. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a slap.

"Ugh!" Trina groaned, apparently having face-palmed in annoyance, "I'm so stupid! Static was there when it happened, and I know he's been investigating Dr. Todd's death, too. I should have asked him if he had any leads. But I was in sort of a daze, so I just got back in the squad car and rode back with Barnsdale to the station."

"It'll…uh…it'll be ok, Officer Jessup," I said, not sure what else to say.

"Where are you?" she asked again, "I'm coming to pick you up."

"I'm at Richie's," I lied, "Don't worry about it, I'll be home in 5 minutes." I hung up before she could argue.

I knew I'd have to head home and talk to Sharon and Trina before I could head to the GenomaTech site, just to make sure they were doing ok. Afterwards, I'd make up some lie as to why I had to head out again.

I pulled out my Static Saucer and charged it up, before hopping on and heading home.

* * *

After stopping home and talking with his sister, Static again headed out, claiming he was gonna go to for a walk to clear his head. Trina said that she would stay with Sharon, who claimed she didn't need a babysitter, but was secretly glad she had someone to comfort her.

Glad to have gotten that out of the way, Static headed towards the ruins of GenomaTech. He got there in about 5 minutes, and still had a little bit before his team would be there.

Knowing he had no time to lose, the young hero began poking around, looking for any sort of clue that could help him clear his father's name. Of course, there wasn't much, considering the whole site was essentially burnt rubble.

"There has to be something," Virgil muttered. They had already hacked the internet connection to see what Dr. Todd had been doing right before he died, but that got them nothing. So it seemed that looking around would be the best bet.

"Maybe I should try the basement again," he muttered, heading towards the part of the site that had caved in. It was marked off, basically just a big hole in the ground.

Jumping down, Static was greeted to the same site as above: just a bunch of rubble.

Deciding the best thing to do would just be to keep looking around around, Static headed to where the old filing cabinets had been kept. By now, they were just a couple metal blobs, having melted in the fire. However, as Virgil headed towards that part of the basement, he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. Or rather, someONE. It was a mysterious black figure, about Static's height. The figure was poking around the ruins of the building, as though looking for something.

Static watched him for a minute. The figure apparently hadn't noticed him. Static studied him, thinking he looked familiar. He was wearing all black, save for a solid blue eagle on his chest, and a gray utility belt. His jet black hair was down, coming to just above his shoulders. He was also wearing sunglasses that completely covered his eyes.

Like Static, this figure was just looking around, as though searching for clues. Static wondered if this person may be one of the member's of Chief Barndale's team he had mentioned.

"Wait a minute," he muttered. If this guy was a member of the team, then why would he still be here? Shouldn't he be back at the police station turning in his evidence?

If he wasn't a member of Barnsdale's team, then there was only one person this guy could be: Dr. Todd's killer!

While it may have been jumping the gun a bit to assume this mysterious figure was Dr. Todd's killer, Static wasn't exactly in the right state of mind at the moment. All he knew was that his father had been framed for a murder committed at this site, and now this mysterious figure was poking around. Clearly, something was up.

"Hey!" he called out. The figure jumped in surprise and turned to him, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm on important business!" The figure called back, not even looking at him, "It doesn't concern you."

"Well, my fa…friend's father just got arrested due to events that happened at THIS building's site," Static shot back, "So as far as I'm concerned, you being here means you're up to no good, which means I can bring you in."

"Wait, what?" the figure called out, turning to look at him. Upon seeing it was Static, he held up his hands, "Hold on!"

But Static wasn't listening. He glared at the mysterious figure, before charging up his hands and rushing forward…

* * *

Shiv was currently doing something he had been wanting to do for quite a while: smoking a cigar. He had recently turned 18 and was glad to finally be able to indulge in such a wicked vice. Honestly, he could have done so long before now, as being underage didn't matter seeing as he could just steal them. All that had really stopped him was no time. Between his crime and laying low, he just hadn't gotten around to it before now.

As he puffed his cigar, he heard, "How are things progressing?" It was Mr. W, checking up.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Shiv responded, "Right on schedule, boss. We've got the next phase initiated, and the training is coming along perfectly."

"Good, good," Mr. W replied, "However, I may have some…news."

Noticing the pause in his boss' voice, Shiv asked, "Good news or bad news?"

"There's a new player in this game. I've noticed him searching around GenomaTech. That could be a problem. However, it looks like he's gotten on Static's bad side."

Shiv nodded, forgetting that his boss couldn't see him, "I'll keep an eye out for him. Hopefully it's just some amateur detective looking around. Heck, maybe Static'll think he's got something to do with everything that's happened."

"Good to hear. I'll be in touch." At that, Mr. W was gone. Shiv reached up and turned his earpiece off.

He mulled over what his boss had just told him, but ultimately decide it wasn't that big of a deal. Whoever this new person was, he would fall just like Static and his crew. And besides, he had much more important things to worry about.

After nearly 3 years, Static would finally be defeated, and Dakota City would belong to the Meta-Breed. Sure, there were a more supers, as well as some government agencies to worry about, but Mr. W had assured him that they would be no problem.

"Just a little longer," Shiv smirked, as he watched his crew getting ready, "Then it's show time!"

* * *

Static charged towards the mysterious figure, ready to take down the man who was now his prime suspect in Dr. Todd's murder.

The figure jumped back, dodging Static's electric-charged punch.

"Wait!" He shouted, holding his hands up, "Just let me explain. I'm here to-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Static shot a bolt of lightning towards him, causing him to have to jump out of the way again, the bolt just missing him.

Static was clearly fueled by rage, and as such was not in the mood to hear this guy out. All he was thinking about was capturing this guy and clearing Pops' name.

Knowing he had to detain Static if he was going to talk to him, the figure pulled out a bo-staff, ready to fight.

The two glared at each other for a good half-a-minute, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, Static rushed forward, and his opponent did the same.

Static charged his fist and flew forward, while the figure began twirling his bo-staff and used it to spring himself into the air, before reversing it and coming down in a downward strike.

Static quickly deflected the attack by using his Saucer as a shield. The impact sent the figure flying back up, crashing into a wall.

Static slowly approached the figure, glaring at him. Before he could get too close, however, the figure reached into his pocket and produced something red, which he threw at Static.

Static was caught off guard and let the thing fly towards him, barely managing to step out of the way in time. However, as he turned, he saw a lock of his hair fall.

"Oh, so you've got more toys, huh?" Static growled, as he advanced towards the figure, who by the time had gotten up.

Before Static could charge up another lightning bolt, the figure did a series of acrobatic jumps, landing behind Static, where he quickly whacked him in the back of the head with his bo-staff.

Static fell to the ground, clutching his head. The figure took this opportunity to deliver more blows, whacking his wrists, shins, and knees, finally pinning him to the ground by forcing the bo-staff on his stomach.

"Now will you just listen to me?" He growled, as Static tried to get over the sharp jabs of pain he felt from the bo-staff, "I'm here to-"

At that moment, however, the mysterious figure felt something jump onto his back. He struggled, but it was no use as whatever was on him wrapped him in metal coils, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Static!"

Static slowly got up as Gear and She-Bang came rushing in. Gear helped Static to his feet as She-Bang stood over the figure, who was still struggling to escape Backpack.

"Are you ok?" She-Bang asked, looking at her teammate before glaring at the figure.

"Yeah," Static nodded, "Just a little sore." He rubbed his wrists as he and Gear walked up to the figure. "Who the heck are you, and what are you doing here?"

The figure stopped struggling and sighed, "I've been trying to explain that for the last five minutes. It's me, Robin."

The trio froze, looking at the person in shock. WIthout saying anything, Static reached down and took off his sunglasses. Sure enough, underneath them was Robin's mask.

Right as Gear was about to ask what was going on, Robin spoke up again, "Dr. Todd invented a cure for super powers. Because of this, Batman knew his death was no accident, and asked if I wouldn't mind investigating. Batman's currently busy with the League, so he can't get down here. As for this new outfit, he pointed out that the leader of the Teen Titans poking around would get noticed, so I had to go undercover."

The three teens processed this, before Gear said, "Ok, makes sense. But we've been looking into this for a month and haven't gotten any answers." At that, Backpack released Robin, who promptly stood up and faced the trio with a determined look on his face.

"I know," Robin replied, "That's why I'm here." He then turned to Static, "What were you saying about someone's father getting arrested for whatever went down here?"

Snapping out of his shock, Static explained what had happened with Chief Barnsdale arresting his father under the assumption that he was Dr. Todd's murderer. "...so now the only way to clear Pops' name is to find the real killer. When I saw you snooping around, I guess I let my emotions get the best of me. I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Robin said, "I've got experience in letting my emotions get the better of me when working on a case. I'll help you clear your father's name and catch the real killer."

"Thanks," Static said, grateful, "So, since you're undercover, what should we call you?"

Robin grinned, "Call me...Nightwing."

"Cool name," She-Bang said, "So, Nightwing, where should we start?"

"Tell me everything you've done and what you've found," Nightwing stated. The trio nodded, and Gear began relaying everything that Backpack had picked up from the internet cloud, as well as what Tina Todd had told them. Nightwing nodded, and the trio got to work, hoping they would find something to help with their investigation.

Unbeknownst to the four of them, they were being watched. Watched by none other than Mr. W, who was ECSTATIC at what he had just learned about this mysterious new figure.

* * *

 **So Robin has finally adopted the Nightwing persona, and is now helping Static try and clear his father's name. But remember that it won't be so easy. After all, it's only Tuesday, and Mr. W's plan won't happen until this Saturday.**

 **But trust me when I say that this week will be full of plenty of surprises for our young hero to deal with.**

 **R &R**


End file.
